Customizing Blogger

I have been busy customizing my blog this afternoon. I wanted my posting area to be wider, and I hope my photos will turn out bigger, too. They seem to look better, but I'm not sure if they actually are or not. I found a post titled "How to change width of blogger blogs" at Beginner Blogger Basics. I created a back up of my blog and went through the steps and got a wider blog!

I've also been meaning to post about how I created a custom header several months ago. I know many of you use blogger and already know how to do this, but I hadn't even realized I COULD customize a header with blogger until recently! So, maybe there are others of you out there who could use a short tutorial.

I asked Alex at Serendipity Homeschool and she advised me to go to picnik.com. At Picnik, I downloaded a photo of Alex making a snow angel in the snow. Then, I edited it by cropping it shorter. Next, I went in to "create" and added the text, "school for us." Finally, I "save"d it and typed the width of 800 (as my header width is 820).

I went into the "Layout" on blogger and clicked on "edit header." I deleted the current image and added my new photo. I clicked on the button to use the photo "instead of title and description." And, I had my new header!

Another thing I've been wanting to do is to add a signature to the bottom of each post. I followed the tips at Moms Who Blog and came up with "my" signature! You use My Live Signature to create this signature. When you get to the end, make sure you say you want to "use this signature" and get an html generated. (Oops! I didn't realize it was in a white box, but I've done enough for one day.)

I hope you enjoy my little changes and maybe it will help if some of you were wanting to try some of these changes!

Solar S'mores

We had some sunshine this weekend! (In between the rain.) So, we got out our solar oven and tried again. This time, yummy success!!! The temp in the oven got to 140 degrees! (I had taken some advice and put the oven on the driveway - I think this really helped!)

Happy Birthday to...

...MY BLOG!!!

My blog is 2 years old today. I can't believe how much we've done in the past 2 years.... the friends we've made... the lessons we've learned... the experiments we've done... the new skills... new experiences... Back then, I was "officially" just starting to homeschool, though I'd been unofficially homeschooling for a few years. Now, I'm a more seasoned homeschooler getting ready to start teaching 2nd grade!

I know in the beginning, the only ones reading my blog were a few family members and a few ladies from the Galloping the Globe curriculum we were using. (By the way, it is a wonderful curriculum - one of the best things we've done! And, through it, I met one of my best friends who I now co-op with, Ms. S!)

So, here's a link to my very first post back on July 8th, 2005. Thanks for reading!!!
- Dana

P.S. I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment on this one so I can see who all is out there... still reading. :-)

Pickin' Blueberries

We went blueberry picking today. Since we've had so much rain, there haven't been a lot of pickers and they had TONS of berries. Alexandra LOVES blueberries! They also had blackberries, but none of us like them much. And, you can pick their flowers, too. (I was trying hard to get a great photo of this large bumblebee - I might crop this photo and see what it looks like as it's pretty good.) Alexandra did step in some fire ants and got a few bites which wasn't fun.

Afterwards, we stopped at our local homeschool store and I bought the rest of our curriculum for next year - yeah! And, I had a friend I'd been trying to hook up with for a few months. Well, we ran into each other at the store. (Isn't God amazing?) The girls got to play for at least an hour at the little play area. And, we got to catch up and talk about our girls and homeschooling.

Audiobooks at Wendy's

This week, I read that Wendy's was giving out audiobooks instead of toys this month. We went there for lunch today and Alexandra got the one she wanted most - The Magic Tree House's Dinosaurs Before Dark. There are 4 different books-on-tape. I love that Wendy's is doing this, kind of like Chick-Fil-A has done several times with stories on tape. Way to go, Wendy's!

Field Day

On Friday, Alexandra attended a Field Day for homeschoolers with over 120 kids in attendance. Wow! (Above photo: using rope to climb rope on obstacle course)

Alexandra was in a group of 9, 6-year-old girls. They competed in about 10 events and Alexandra won 4 ribbons: 1st place in javelin throw, 2nd place in water ballon toss and egg carry, and 3rd place in jump roping. (Above photo: javelin throw style - the blue ribbon winner)

Meet Emma

Emma the teddy hamster joined our family on Friday. This is Alexandra's first pet that is all her own. She really is a lot of fun... especially since I learned how to shut the door to her wheel at night. She woke my up on Saturday at 6:15 - from downstairs! - running on that wheel. When I get up around 6:30, I re-open her amusement park, and boy does she run!

Every Kid Loves the Mud!

I was on the phone and Alexandra was watering some seeds we planted today. When I got off the phone and went to check on her, I found her wading in the mud she'd made! I thought it was so cute and I remembered being a child and loving to play in the mud and squish my toes in it. So, I told her to have fun and I went and grabbed my camera...

Day at the Carnival

Today, we spent 5 wonderful hours at the carnival. Here are a few photos. (Above: just a photo of a slide I liked - I LOVE my new camera!)

On top of the ferris wheel..... one of the few rides I went on.

A "drop" ride - how does she do it? And why?

A not-so-little kid's roller coaster.

A HUGE slide... and, yes, I climbed up and went down... but only once.

She wanted to ride on so many big-kid rides. I can't believe she's old enough! She's on this Yo-Yo ride at night.

Loving my camera and the night-photos it can take!

Sacked out on the ride home about 8 pm.

300th post!!!

This is my 300th post!!! I've been doing this about 1.5 years and enjoying it more and more. It's been especially fun as I've had more readers lately! If you read this, can you drop me a "comment" so I know who's out there? Thanks and Happy Reading!!!

Jumping Rope

Alexandra learned to jump rope this week - she went from 2 jumps without a miss to 22!!! Way to go, Sweetie! (She also got her first bloody knee from jump roping...)

Leaves & Trees at Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we went to my brother's house. He has a lot of big trees in his backyard, so Alexandra and her cousin had a LOT of fun playing in the leaves! They raked up a big pile and buried themselves in it.

From childhood, I remember playing "bird's next" with my brother and sister and friends. We would shape a leaf pile like a bird's nest and play like we were a family of birds. I loved sharing this experience with my daughter while at my brother's. We don't have enough leaves to do this at our house.

My brother and I also liked to climb trees. There was a great climbing tree in our backyard. I could only go up a few branches, but my little brother would climb almost to the top! I remember my mother coming out to look for him and he'd be hidden in the treetop. My brother helped my daughter get in the tree - and then he climbed up himself! His tree isn't as easy to climb as ours was, so he didn't get as high. I didn't even try. :-)

The other 2 things we did a lot of over Thanksgiving were singing karoke - what fun!!! - and playing video games - another thing my brother did A LOT OF when we were small. I wasn't very good at them, so I'd just watch.

My brother had a lot of friends over 2 days while we were there and it was a lot of fun. There were even several little girls for Alexandra to play with. It was just a wonderful time.

Thanksgiving Fun

While at my brothers, I asked him to help Alexandra climb a tree like we used to do...

Bird House

On Saturday, we went to our 2nd Home Depot Kid's Workshop and made a bird house! Again, I was surprised we could make it by ourselves. This time, besides using the hammer, we had to use wood glue & screws. :-) Alexandra did a lot more of the work herself this time - including some hammering. She's going to be doing it with little help from me before long!

Rock Climbing

This past weekend, we went to visit some of our family. While there, we went to the mall to let my daughter & niece go rock climbing. I couldn't believe how high Alexandra climbed! She was a little afraid to come down, though.

After awhile, I decided to give it a try. It was harder than I thought! And, I was a little afraid to come down, too. :-) In fact, the first time down, I landed on my "seat."

Alexandra said she isn't trying this again until she's her cousin's age - 8. :-) Her cousin actually tried 6 times and finally made it to the top to ring the bell! Yeah for her!!!

Home Depot & Michael's

Today Alexandra spent the morning "creating." First, we went to Home Depot for their Kids Workshop. I've meant to do this for a long time, but this is the first time we made it.

Today's activity was to build a pencil box. I thought they would show us step by step how to make our wooden box, but instead they gave Alexandra an apron, a kit, a hammer and the instructions. I was very surpised and wasn't sure what to do. I've never done anything like this before, but it turned out great! We did have to take part of it apart as the lid wouldn't slide on the first time, but the dad next to us did worse. :-) He had 2 children and accidentally swapped pieces between the 2 kids & so they had to take both boxes apart.

It was a good feeling to make something I wasn't sure I/we could do! And, neither one of us got any smashed fingers from all of the hammering! We will definitely be doing these workshops again and are excited that in September they are building bird houses!

After Home Depot, we went to Michael's craft store for their Kid's Club. Alexandra made a very cute flower in a pot that is also a picture holder. We also ran into some friends we haven't seen in about a year, so that was an added treat.

Eskimo Joe's

Part of our trip to Oklahoma involved a stop at Eskimo Joe's. My brother often wears Eskimo Joe's shirts, so Alexandra has wanted to go there for a long time. She finally got her wish. And, we just happened to attend during their anniversary & got to take pictures with "Joe" and the dog (people in costume). We also met the owner & the artist who draws the pictures for t-shirts, etc. Alexandra got a pink Eskimo Joe's cup that turns purple when cold & a pink t-shirt. She wore the shirt the next day - she was so excited to finally have her own Eskimo Joe's shirt!

The Lake

Last night, we went with my brother & his friends to spend an evening at the lake. Alexandra has never been to a lake, and it's been many years since I've been to one.



My brother's friend has a boat and we went on it. Alexandra and the 4-year-old were screaming with delight as we bumped along the water. We went to a quiet cove & the men took turns throwing the net in to catch some bait. After awhile, the friend decided to teach me. I was surprised at how heavy the net is and how much skill is needed. But, they all said they were impressed at how quickly I caught on. :-)

(above: picture of Alexandra and her uncle, my brother, swimming near the boat. Alexandra didn't like the fact that she had to wear a life jacket the whole time. She also would have preferred a pink jacket like her new friends...)

We never did catch anything useful with the net - only one baby catfish. After awhile, we went to another cove to go swimming. I'd forgotten how the lake has so many cold spots & warm spots. Thankfully, we didn't run into anything scary, and just had fun swimming around the boat.

Next, we tied up to a dock and let the girls go fishing. This was Alexandra's first time to fish, and she learned to cast very well. They were all having a lot of fun.

As the sun set, we went back to the dock. I got to lay flat at the front of the boat as we sped along into the sunset. It was a wonderful feeling.

The men made a fire when we got back & roasted marshmallows & made S'mores. We also looked at the stars some more and saw the Milky Way.

It was a beautiful day and I'm ready to move to the country & buy a boat!

the stars & the birds

We are currently on vacation in Oklahoma visiting my brother. On Saturday night, we went to visit some of his friends who live in the country. We had a great playing a card game, Sequence, while Alexandra and their 2 girls played. We also had a fish cookout with some fish they'd caught that morning.

As we were leaving late that night, I was amazed when I looked up in the sky. There were so many stars!!! It looked like a different sky than the one we see in Houston. My brother even found a satellite traveling across the sky and we watched that for a while.

When we got home to my brother's house, we were surprised when we heard the sound of wings flapping. Evidently, a large flock of birds had settled for the night in the trees around his house. We had fun clapping our hands and hearing the wings. Then, we got a flashlight and as we would shine it in the different trees, we'd hear the birds flap their wings in that tree. It was very strange! And, even stranger, we never saw a single bird!

Visit from the Tooth Fairy

(Picture above is of Alexandra today with her new smile - complete with tounge poking out of new "hole.")

Last night we had our first visit from the tooth fairy! Alexandra was, of course, so excited. I was afraid she wouldn't fall asleep, but she did. She is only 5.5 and she thought it was neat to be the first of her friends to lose a tooth.
All day yesterday it was clear that her tooth would be coming out very soon. She could bend it straight back. I even took pictures, but I don't think most people would like to see them. :-)

After I tucked her in bed last night, she said she was afraid it would fall out during the night and that she'd swallow it. I knew it could probably come out, so I told her we should give it one last try. We went into the bathroom and I bent it - first all of the way back, and then all the way forward. It popped out and fell on the floor! She was so excited and ran to the stairs to tell Daddy.

After taking some pictures, blood and all, we cleaned her up a bit and went downstairs to show her new smile to Daddy. Then, she said she needed to write the Tooth Fairy a note.

So, she got to stay up late writing a note. She had a special box she put the note and the tooth in and then put the box on her window sill.
In the morning, she discovered the Tooth Fairy had come! The Tooth Fairy had left her a $5 bill, a note, and some fairy dust! There was even fairy dust in her bed, on her face, and on her leg. She was so excited, but said she wished we'd have taken a picture of the tooth itself.

Below is a copy of the note she wrote the Tooth Fairy. I spelled a lot of the words for her. She did want the note to see Pleease, like she's begging. :-) The picture at the bottom is of the Tooth Fairy. I took a few photos, and each time I cut some of it off. The note says: "Dear Tooth Fairy, Pleease take my tooth. I've been waiting a long time for this to happen. Alexandra"